Jakey and the Cookies
by lilabut
Summary: Jacob and Bella have to look after Claire for an afternoon. ONE SHOT


I was given this really sweet prompt: _Quil gets detention after school and asks Bella and Jake to baby-sit Claire for the afternoon for him. The three of them bake cookies._

* * *

**Jakey and the Cookies**

"I can't believe Quil made me agree to this. I'm going to kill him."

"Come on, Jake. She's so sweet. And it's just one afternoon," Bella said with a gentle smile on her lips as they watched Claire neatly place her shoes in the hallway.

"How dumb can you be? I mean… climbing up the roof. Kids in third grade to that."

Jacob's mood had seriously suffered after Quil had asked him and Bella to look after Claire for the afternoon, because he got detention. Jacob had hoped to spend the day with Bella – alone. Quil would surely have to pay for this.

"Don't be so grumpy, Jake," Bella said, dumping Claire's pink bag on the floor, "Come on."

She grabbed Claire's hand, smiling at the little girl before gently steering her into the living room. Jacob groaned, hands balled to fists before he followed the girls.

"What do you want to do, Claire?" Bella asked, kneeling down so she was eye-level with the small girl. They had spent enough time with her for Claire to be comfortable around them, but this was the first time without Quil and the blush that tinted the girl's cheeks caused Bella's heart to flutter.

"Can we play family?" Claire's voice was pleasantly quiet, her question shy but determined.

"That's a great idea!"

Jacob was surprised by Bella's enthusiasm. He had not expected her to be this happy and at ease around children. But her genuine smile, the shine in her eyes were so honest, so contagious, that all the embarrassment fell from Claire like a blanket, the girl grinning brightly, pulling Bella to the couch.

"We are the Mommies. He's the baby," Claire explained, pointing to Jacob who stood in the middle of his living room, feeling out of place.

"Me? Why me?"

"Don't you think he should be the Daddy?" Bella asked, absent-mindedly securing a loose strand of hair behind Claire's ear.

"Nooo," the little girl moaned, shaking her head for emphasis, "He always does stuuupid things. He's not a Daddy. He's the baby."

Bella suppressed a snort, the corners of her lips pulling into a bright grin as she glanced at Jacob, who looked slightly defeated.

"But we don't have a Dad, then."

"My best friend Molly not has a Dad. She has two Mommies. My Mommy says that just like Mommy and Daddy."

"Of course, you're right," Bella quickly said, still smiling. She got up, loosening her fingers from Claire's grip to walk over to Jacob. She gently rested her hand on his back, nudging him with her elbow.

"Lesbian Moms. Hot. I'm a lucky guy," he murmured with a mischievous grin, and Bella threw him a warning glance.

"And what are our plans for today?"

"Cookies!" Claire said enthusiastically, jumping up and down with excitement.

"I don't have any," Jacob admitted quietly. If there was one thing that scared him about children, it were tears. He did not want her to cry.

"Then we're going to bake some," Bella quickly said, sensing both Jacob's unease and the fading smile on Claire's face.

The little girl's excited squeak was muffled the frustrated groan that Jacob could not hold in and which earned him an inconspicuous punch in the ribs.

"Ouch," Bella murmured, rubbing her elbow.

"Baking cookies, now!" Claire practically screamed, storming towards them, almost tripping over the edge of the rug, catching Bella and Jacob's hands and more or less pulling them in the direction of the kitchen.

...

"Oh Jake, come on. Just because you are the baby in this constellation doesn't mean you have to bake like one," Bella complained as quietly as she could as she inspected the big blue bowl in front of Jake, who sat – with the grumpiest fake smile on his face – at the small table, a dolphin napkin around his throat.

"I'm just being authentic," he murmured, poking around the bowl with a teaspoon, "Seriously, Bella. I can't bake."

Bella sighed in defeat, sitting down next to Jake.

"It said two teaspoons. That's not that difficult. But it looks like you put the entire packet in there."

"It looked like nothing, seriously. I just added a bit more for good measure."

"You don't add anything for good measure when you are clueless, Jake. Give this to me," Bella said calmly, taking the bowl from Jake so rescue what she could.

"Is Jakey being bad?" Claire asked from her position on a chair in front of the counter, meticulously forming little balls.

"I'm afraid he is," Bella said, smiling as Jake threw her an angry look.

"Don't be such a baby," she whispered with a wink, softly touching her hand against his for a splint second, before walking back to the counter.

...

"Here we go," Bella announced with a bright smile, carrying the bowl with warm cookies to the small coffee table in the living room.

Claire was bouncing up and down excitedly on the floor, her hand in Jacob's, who had been ordered to keep his dolphin napkin just in case for "dinner" now.

"They look very good."

"Yes, yes!"

Bella sat, crossed-legged, on the other side of the table, amused by Claire's happy smile and Jacob's grumpy disapproval of everything.

The room was quickly filled by the sounds of cookies being devoured.

"No! You already had enough, Jakey."

"Please?"

"No. You have to go to bed now. It's very late," Claire explained, her arm awkwardly pushing down on Jacob's, trapping his hand in the cookie bowl.

"Bella?"

"Claire is right. It's bedtime."

He groaned, the sound more like a whine, and Bella licked the melted chocolate from her fingers while Claire removed the dolphin napkin from Jacob's collar, petting his head.

"Come, Jakey," she urged him on, getting on her small feet, leading both Jacob and Bella towards the hall, "Where is your room?"

This time the question was more hesitant, clearly not a part of her game.

"There," Jacob answered, pointing to the half-open door of his room. Claire immediately steered towards it, the small caravan making their way through the piles of laundry until they reached his bed.

"And tomorrow you clean your room," Claire ordered, her small finger waving threateningly in front of Jacob's face as he sat on the bed.

"Good night, Jakey," she continued, kissing Jacob's cheek before stepping back a little, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

"Should I put him to bed?" Bella asked her, already sinking to her knees. Claire nodded, and Bella turned toward Jacob, who was already laying down on his bed, busy with the blanket.

"I'll do that, _Jakey_," Bella said caringly, flashing Jacob a grin Claire could not see as she took the blanket from his hands, their fingers brushing for a second before she pulled it up to his shoulders. She kissed his cheek softly, lips dangerously close to the corner of his mouth.

"Good night," she whispered, closing her eyes for just a second, Jacob's warm breath against her ear.

"You're so paying for this, Bells."


End file.
